Advertising Blurbs

www.nintendo.com – Nintendo 64:

The hawk returns to Nintendo 64.

Nothing beats the totally free feeling of skateboarding. From the click-clacking sound of your wheels as you fly down a sidewalk to the pure joy which comes from sticking a new trick, skating satisfies all human senses. Excluding the occasional pebble or security guard, it's nearly impossible to feel sad on a skateboard.

Even the hungriest of ams can't skate 24-7, though. That's where Activision comes in. When you're just too tired to try that new trick even one more time, it's time to push back to the shack. Eat some grub, fire up the N64, then lay down the sweetest lines imaginable with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. Even if you've never been haunted by a terrifying handrail which you know you should try, Pro Skater 2 lets you feel what's it like to be a bona fide skater. Who knows ... you just might be inspired to go out and lay down some cash for a board of your own!

Like the original Pro Skater, THPS2 presents an interesting mix of both simulation and arcade action. All of the tricks are authentic, and the smooth gameplay makes the game feel very realistic. Realism flies out the window when you watch your skater link together impossibly dangerous and difficult combos. All of the tricks in the game could potentially be pulled off in real life, but not linked together as they are and not at the game's suicidal height and speed. That's what makes this game so fun.

Before we start rattling off the new gameplay modes and features in Pro Skater 2, let's start with the most important new addition to the game: manuals. Manuals. Manuals. Did you get that? Manuals, baby. Manuals were conspicuously missing in the original Pro Skater, and their presence in THPS2 completely changes the way you play.

Manuals are basically wheelies. Skaters balance on their two back wheels for regular manuals, or on their two front wheels for nose manuals. Normally, manuals begin from an ollie or a flip trick. For example, a pro skater might heelflip to a ledge and land on his two front wheels. He'd roll on those two front wheels to the edge of the ledge, then kickflip to the ground or onto another ledge. Manuals were all the rage in the early 90's, but even today you'd be hard-pressed to find a skate video without them.

In Pro Skater 2, you press down then up to start a regular manual or up then down to start a nose manual. A balance meter appears on the screen, and you have to "manually" keep your balance as you ride on two wheels. What's the big deal about this? By doing a manual, you can keep your combos going. Let's say you just linked together three grinds on a long rail, but you've reached the end. Kickflip off the rail, press down then up in the air and you'll land with a manual. Ride across the street to another rail, and keep your combo going. With this new feature, high scores soar and no line ever ends. This radically changes the gameplay experience -- in a great way.

You'll also notice a new trick system which judges your style. In the original game, you either landed tricks or landed on your face. In Pro Skater 2, the game lets you know if your landing was poor by giving you a Sloppy pre-fix to your on-screen trick display. Stick your trick with style to get a Perfect rating. If the landing was just average, you'll receive no classification at all.

There are other new tricks, as well as all-new courses to conquer. Your main goal on each course is to complete objective-based goals, but this time there are many more things to check off your list. Here's a sample hit-list from the first course:

As you can see, a SICK score was added to keep you challenged once you start getting the hang of the new gameplay system. Hitting gaps and sticking specific tricks are also new features, and there are more items to collect and destroy on each course. Instead of video tapes, you're rewarded with cash for completing each task.

Your cash can be used in a number of ways. You can spend some dough on a new deck, improve your skater's stats or use it to purchase new tricks. When you buy a new trick, you get to pick which button combination to assign to that trick. By the end of your career, you'll have a custom skater which matches your individual style. In fact, THPS2 even lets you create your own skater from scratch, in a new Create Skater feature. This mode is not as detailed as we've come to expect from other sports games, but at least it lets you sport two different kinds of mullets.

Another major improvement in Pro Skater 2 -- especially if you've ever built a ramp in your back yard -- is the addition of a Park Editor Mode. This awesome feature lets you design your own course using ramps, bowls, rails and other obstacles. You can use risers to vary the height of the obstacles, and in the end you'll have your own custom skate park which you can take with you on a Controller Pak.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 also features a multiplayer mode for two players, as well as Free Skate and Single Session modes. There are 13 real-world Pro Skaters immediately available, and even more secret skaters waiting to be unlocked.

Available now, Pro Skater 2 vastly improves on the original -- which itself was near perfect. Check it out.

Santa Monica, CA -- November 15, 2000 -- Sega Dreamcast’ and Nintendo® Game Boy® Color owners can now tear up the asphalt with skateboarding’s top talent in Activision, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2’. The sequel to the multi-platform best-seller, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2’ is currently available in North American retail stores. The Dreamcast version carries a suggested retail price of $44.99 and has been rated “T” (Teen - with mild animated violence and mild language) by the ESRB. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2’ for Game Boy Color carries a suggested retail price of $29.99 and is rated “E” (Everyone – content suitable for persons ages six and older) by the ESRB.

“Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 is the definitive action sports video game and has set a new benchmark for all future games in the genre,” stated Dave Stohl, executive producer, Activision Studios. “In bringing the game to the Dreamcast and Game Boy Color, Activision reinforces its position as a leader in leveraging marquee brands across multiple gaming platforms.”

Featuring a comprehensive roster of pro skaters, an intuitive control scheme and enhanced skating physics, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 delivers the most authentic and cutting-edge skateboarding experience of all time. The game’s increased number of tricks and combinations - including manuals, new grabs, grinds, inverts and lip and ollie tricks – challenges players to master new skills as they work their way up the skateboarding ranks.

Adding depth and replayability, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 for Dreamcast features the most advanced skatepark editor ever attempted in a video game. The real-time 3D editor allows gamers to build their own dream parks from scratch. Players can see exactly how their park will look in the game as they plot out a course using a variety of parts – ramps, rails, obstacles and quarterpipes. Once a level is laid out, it can be saved to a memory card and shared with friends. Additionally, a total character customization feature allows gamers to modify the pro skaters’ clothing and trick sets, or build an entirely new character from scratch.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 for Dreamcast was developed by Treyarch LLC for Activision, and the Game Boy Color version was developed for Activision by Natsume Co. Ltd.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted revenues of $572 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000.

Activision maintains operations in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, and the Netherlands. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's World Wide Web site, which is located at http://www.activision.com.

The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements.” The Company cautions readers of this press release that a number of important factors could cause Activision’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements. These important factors, and other factors that could affect Activision, are described in Activision’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000, which was filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers of this press release are referred to such filings.

Continuing the success of the original Tony Hawk's skateboarding game, Pro Skater 2 takes skating to a hell-raising, higher plane. If you thought the original was hardcore, wait till you see what this game has in store for you.

As you learn new, challenging levels, you'll be able to enjoy enhanced graphics and fantastic attention to detail on the skaters. You can change almost any aspect of your character to suit your tastes, including face, clothes and trainers, and you can even build specialised parks in which to display your skills to the very max.

There's bound to be some hairy moments as you indulge in the new tricks, but skating wouldn't have that edge if you didn't get a few cuts and grazes on the way!